Improved Maestro Garden Pea

60 days. Heavy crops of 4-to 5-inch pods are produced on plants that seldom reach 3 feet in height and do not require staking. Peas are medium-sized, very sweet, and good for freezing, and the pods often contain up to 12 peas each. Tolerant to a number of common pea diseases.

These were easy to grow but our germination rate was south of 50%. We were still able to produce plenty of peas to keep us well supplied for 6 weeks but order 2x more seed than you think you will need.

We planted several different varieties of garden peas this spring. These were by far our favorites. We did have a weird spring with lots of rain (multiple rains of 3-5 inches). These plants did not germinate as well as some of the other varieties. Only about 1/2 of the seeds germinated but the ones that did produced big beautiful plants and gorgeous pods and peas. We did stake these to keep them from falling over and laying on the ground. All the pods had 9-12 peas each. They were very easy to pod (my 2 1/2 year old and 5 year old were able to pod with no problem). They are very flavorful and became a house favorite.

I've been testing various garden peas for the past three years. This is the one for me. No trellis needed; they clutched each other and stayed nicely upright to about 3' high; then they were loaded with nicely formed pods having six to ten peas in each. No pests or diseases - this has been a somewhat cool spring here in mid-Missouri. I planted them the first week of March. The second week we had unseasonably freezing temps all week, but they came up just fine the third week. Excellent germination. I've been harvesting them since last week (third week of May). They're delicious - really sweet. This was a wonderful find.

This is my first review for any of the seeds I have bought so that tells you something. Planted about four of these a few months ago. Each grew to be about 3 feet tall and began producing plenty of fat pea pods. A week ago I did my first harvest, shelled them, and we cooked them for the family. First thing is these peas are meaty and plump. Very satisfying and filling. In addition after frying them in a little oil and salt they are totally delicious. They blow frozen peas or canned peas out of the water completely. In addition these are probably the most beautifuly plants I have grown with their lovely green leaves with silver accents. They did require stakes but no big deal there. Now I just harvested a second small crop and hopefully I will get some more soon!

I planted these the first of April (I am an hour north of Seattle) and they finished their first production by the end of July. They climbed nicely for me, although only about 4 feet tall. Lots of pods with 8 - 12 peas on average. Total yeild from a 4' x 4' patch was about 4 lbs. Toward the end they were all a bit wormy (but my ducks loved them). They will produce a second crop, but it is smaller, so I pulled them out to use the space to plant a fall crop. I will be planting these again next year.